


the four times arjuna killed karna and the one time

by en passant (corinthian)



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Other, changing destiny is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 03:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5693227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corinthian/pseuds/en%20passant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five chances to make it right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the four times arjuna killed karna and the one time

**Author's Note:**

> Even having .025 canon can't stop me from writing tragic brothers.

The first time Arjuna killed him, it was as fate had demanded. Reparations, divine intervention and the last thing that Karna saw was Arjuna looking down at him.

It isn't a regretful face, but because Karna had been gifted with intuition, he knows what it was. As always, Arjuna wears a dutiful face, only playing out destiny as had been impressed upon him. Arjuna, the third son, was to kill Karna. It was a destiny that Arjuna accepted, held onto with both hands and attended to as if it was the meaning for his existence.

(And, Karna knew too, later Arjuna would question if that was the right thing to do. If, perhaps, there had been another way to reconcile the situation. And, later, when Arjuna discovers that they were half-brothers, there will be mourning.)

Instead, he tries — thinks he might have time — to say: you're dependable, you're blessed, this won't tarnish you. But he didn't have the breath for it.

(And, because Arjuna is himself, it's all true. It doesn't tarnish him, but it does weigh on him, to his dying day. Even though he was one of the greatest heroes to have ever lived, it is also known that he never reached Heaven and that those who carry his name will never be kings.)

* * *

The second time Arjuna killed Karna was when they were both summoned — for the first time — to a Holy Grail War. Spread across Fuyuki City, both brothers were summoned to allied Masters.

The second thing Arjuna said to his Master, having been summoned and seeing Karna there as well is, "I will serve you to the fullest of my abilities, but should the opportunity arise, destiny will not be denied. Karna will die again."

To that, Karna could only smile. "That man is the same as always." He tells his Master.

Both were honorable enough. The position of "Servant" is defined by the existence of a "Master" and despite Arjuna's boasting, he did not wish to seek another fight to the death with his brother again. But, just as he had said as if pre-determining his own destiny again, his Master had never intended to keep such an alliance.

So the order comes, "Kill them, the Master first." And Arjuna could only reply with "It's my pleasure." Of course, as if it is natural.

It's poor etiquette to kill the Master first, but the Holy Grail War has always been dirty and — it was not the first time Arjuna killed someone while they were helpless. But there was no divine intervention nudging him forward about it, and no way to hide his regret when faced with his brother's rage.

Karna's words cut far harder than his lance, since without a Master his body faded faster and faster.

"Is this what the Blessed Hero has come to? Is this your pride as a warrior? Is this what you have been reduced to?"

"A Servant serves their Master, and this fight was preordained." That's the only way Arjuna can answer, biting back the rest of his words. Biting back on the apology, because that was a side of himself he had always know existed but had never known that Karna had been unaware of.

Ah, he's seen it. Arjuna thinks, before shooting an arrow into Karna's chest. Then he bows his head, to hide his expression. The last thing Karna thinks is that perhaps he should have been less hard on Arjuna, this time.

* * *

The third time, it's a battle to make the world stop. As honorable and perfect as it should be.

It's only by chance (or is it fate?) that Arjuna is a hair quicker, just a moment faster, and once again he ends Karna's life. Or perhaps it's because even though Arjuna is stricken by anguish, his hands still remember how to kill his brother.

Karna doesn't miss that, either.

* * *

The fourth time, they're summoned in different classes. Karna, for once, is summoned as a Rider and with him comes a glorious gold chariot. It feels right, to stand between its great wheels and traverse the world with his Master at his side. He's less powerful, but power isn't everything.

(He doesn't know, but Arjuna's been summoned as well. But not as the supreme archer as he normally is, but under the class name of 'assassin' — because one of his feats was killing an unarmed man. A sneak attack, it only barely qualifies him for that class, but it's enough.)

His Master is hopeful, naive, and the kind of person who's too sensitive. She reminds him of Arjuna, when they were much younger, when they were mortal. Arjuna, who had been naturally gifted and naturally aimed for the heavens and there had been nothing that his arrow couldn't pierce except... A little too prideful, too rash and too enamored with destiny.

Karna spends much of the war minding his Master, helping her grow. It would be nice to be able to see her stand on her own two feet, he thinks, but knows it can't be possible. Even if they win, he'll return to the throne of heroes and she'll continue her life.

The fourth time Arjuna kills Karna, Karna never sees his face. But in the shadows a knife — long and slender, far more like an arrow shaft than a blade — pushes through his back. Ah. It's an unfamiliar feeling, because the wound tears him apart from the inside, a fated blow that saw death as his destiny before it even struck.

"My brother." And Karna hears Arjuna's voice in his ear and feels Arjuna's arms around him, briefly. "Goodbye, again."

* * *

For once, Karna will ignore the rules of the battlefield. 

Their fifth time against each other — and this time, they both remember the wars past. They remember the second, third and fourth times that Arjuna has slain Karna.

It weighs on Arjuna's face, his limbs, the way he says "Ah, the disgraceful me and the dishonored you, we're here again." And the way that he's just a little too slow to notch his arrow.

(Since he's been summoning, Karna has thought this: it may have been destiny, once, but that has long been fulfilled. Arjuna is not the type to give up, if anything he is just as stubborn as Karna and, perhaps, even less inclined to break the wheel of fate. It has become too natural, too expected. If it continues on and on and on then it will whittle away at the Arjuna he knows and eventually, a different kind of Spirit will emerge from the Throne of Heroes when he's called down.)

(Arjuna has been thinking, it can't be helped.)

"I did say it, didn't I? That if I ever saw your face again, who knows what will happen..."

"You're as reliable as ever." If he were a different kind of person, Karna might thank Arjuna for being the one to carry their entwined burden onward for so many lifetimes. It seems a sham though, for the older brother to thank his younger brother for such a thing.

"Are you mocking me? Well, I suppose you have lifetimes to pay me back. Let me add another debt to the tally."

He does not give Arjuna ten paces. He does not announce his intent for battle, but in one swift motion he lance is summoned and without hesitation (none, this time) he buries it in Arjuna's chest.

It is, almost, comical. But it also feels to Karna as though he's driven it through his own, even as Arjuna's hands find his, wrapped tightly around the weapon, and squeeze as tightly as he can.

"You are my other half." Karna says, softly, sinks down to the ground with him. "This time, it will be different."

Arjuna's face collapses, his expression an unreadable mix between mirth and sorrow. "I feel... reprimanded." He laughs, wet and unsteadily. "I have, I've always..."

"You only have one last thing to say to me, choose it wisely." Karna interrupts him, blunt but to try and spare them both (again) regret.

"Always hated you," Arjuna says, but in an effort to prove Karna wrong, too, adds: "And loved you."

Karna hopes that Arjuna is not too far gone when he replies, "I have always loved you too."


End file.
